Argosy, Vol. 111, No. 1 — page 31: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AVALANCHE TACTICS. headquarters on the matter of a disputed claim, and it was the evening of the same day when he returned. After the train had gone he approached Dex in the office. ‘‘T saw’ Superintendent Ruff to-day,” began Haskell, without preface. ‘ He said he’s got an agency open for a good man. I told him I believed I had that sort of a fellow.”’ ‘* Meaning Gates?”’ said Dex. - “No, not Gates. Gates has been a bill clerk for ten years, and I expect he’ll not be anything else in the next ten. I had another fellow in mind: you.” . ‘Get out!’’ exclaimed Mitchell. “Sure, you. You’ve been here about seven months, and you’ve got a prétty good working knowledge of this agency business. Ill not say you’ve learned it all; I’ve been at the job for about twenty-five years my- self and I wouldn’t claim that much for my own self—and no comparisons drawn, you understand. But you’ve got enough for this place Ruff has in mind. You can handle inbound and outbound freight; you can sell tickets; and you’ve got a fair run- ning start at the telegraph game. You'll get by.” ‘Oh, I'll take a crack at it, if you say I’m fit,” said Dex. ‘“That’s the idea!” proclaimed Sam. “‘ Besides, the superintendent is looking for what he calls an active young man. Judg- ing by the way you handled that fresh brakeman who dropped the keg of nails on your toe the other day, I know you’d pass for active.” Sam’s eyes dwelt admiringly on his tall, big-framed clerk. The clerk smiled. ‘‘ Where agency?” ‘“Up at Lister’s Corners—’way up on the Gray River branch. Where the coun- try’s rough and the people are rougher— some of ’em. That’s why the boss wants an active man.” “Do the natives bean you from behind a stump, or do they simply shoot on sight?” asked Dexter, grinning. “Oh, they’re not quite that bad,” re- plied Sam. ‘“ Fact is, some of them are pretty decent. But there’s a bunch of the younger element who don’t seem to know what to do with themselves when they’re is this holed up there in the winter. So they gather round the big stove in Cal Lister’s store and plot mischief—and the bright and shining object of about ninety per cent of their plotting is the station agent.” ‘“‘'Why do they pick on him especially?” ‘Lord knows just why! But you know the old saw that it’s always open season on agents. Then, too, experiments usually work better on an outsider—and it’s safer, . besides. “ The thing started, I believe, when in the course of a friendly snowball combat one day the agent binged the chief village cut-up on the nose with a flaky pellet. That had a bad effect on the cut-up’s tem- per; so a little later he and a bunch of par- ticular friends sneaked down to the depot, nailed shut the doors of the agent’s mer- chandise car, and, when the agent came out and tried to pry it open, pelted him half to death with water-soaked snowballs and chunks of ice. He left.” ‘* And then what?” asked Dexter. ‘“Then came another agent, Jepman. They locked him out of the station one cold day—kept him out from noon until evening. Just happened there wasn’t anv trains came along. Jepman departed that night. And Cortland. The freight-room there is in the same building as the office— right next to it. Well, the gang gathered in there one day when the door happened to be open and began a rough-house. They like to raised the roof with their racket. — Cortland asked ’em to stop; he was trying to copy a train order and couldn’t hear the sounder. They grabbed him and just naturally took him pretty near apart— shoes off, clothes in rags, hat gone—every- thing. As soon as he could gather together enough to cover him, Cortland beat it, fast. ‘“So that’s the way it’s been going. The last regular agent was Farley. He got just plain beat up by this village cut-up. If there was any particular reason for Far- ley’s treatment, I haven’t heard’ it. Any- way you can bet he didn’t stay; he wasn’t very big in the first place.” ‘Oh, ho!” said Dex. “I’m beginning to see. The unfortunate agent must be active in order to avoid their deviltry, eh?” “He certainly must!” affirmed Sam. Z1- GOMIIGIOO S (CO